作者：Alexei Andreev

9个月以来，我将全部精力投入到名为《Girl with a Heart of》的冒险游戏中。这款游戏即将面世。成为全职独立游戏开发者是个极为有趣的经历，我自行支付了所有的游戏开发成本，使用Kickstarter来筹集PR成本和其他与游戏发布相关的费用。这款游戏完全由我自行设计，包括所有的编程和对话的编写。我雇佣了美工、对话编辑、音乐师等人。我负责管理整个团队，并让游戏的想法变成现实，这种感觉确实令人惊叹。

我将通过本文分享这款游戏开发过程中学到的内容，包括寻找、雇佣以及与自由美工合作。

阶段1：美术雏形

这是起始阶段，在此期间你制作并使用自己的程序美术和占位符。目前在于创造出有趣的游戏可玩性体验。一旦你拥有了优秀的游戏可玩性并且为美术做好了准备，你需要考虑以下内容：

1、你需要的是哪种风格的美术？现实主义、半现实主义、动画、8位、高程式化抑或是某种混合体？如果你对此不确定的话，那么可以去访问那些展示美工作品的网站，寻找自己中意的风格。

2、决定是否需要概念艺术。如果你能够负担得起费用，那么概念艺术是有一定价值的。你可以制作普通的概念艺术——设定游戏的整体感觉（游戏邦注：即气氛），也可以制作更加具体的概念艺术，比如角色、地点和事件等。我自己的游戏并没有使用概念艺术，但是这意味着我必须找到能够设计地点和角色的优秀设计师。

3、考虑预算。你能够在美术上花费多少资金？不同美术资产风格所需的成本有何不同？你需要了解这些内容，尤其是当你不知道美工通常会为你需要他们完成的工作索要多少报酬时。理解预算能够帮助你挑选合适的美工，强迫你削减游戏的内容，这对游戏开发过程总是有益的。

4、决定灵感来源。在我的游戏开发过程中，最后我选择编写符合所绘角色肖像的对话。当我看到角色的真实面孔时，我便决定采用这种方法。这并非不恰当的做法，但是如果你对角色的应有的形象有良好的想法，那么就要确保美工遵从于这种想法，而不是让想法屈从于美工。

5、为花时间来寻找合适的美工做好准备。根据你的个人需要，这可能耗费你两周到两个月左右的时间。做好准备，确保在此期间有完善的计划。

一旦你思考过所有上述问题并且清晰地得出答案，你就可以步入下个阶段。

阶段2：发布岗位

一旦你了解了自己需要哪种类型的美工并且收藏了大量所需要风格的图片，或者一旦你知道自己需要哪种艺术资产，那么就可以准备雇佣美工。

1、寻找某个汇集大量所需美工的网站。我需要的是2D背景美工、角色美工和动画师。所以，DeviantArt是最为合适的站点。

2、在网站上发布岗位需求。（游戏邦注：你也可以直接联系某些美工，尤其是那些具备你所需美术风格技能或经验的人。这样做时常会遭遇挫折，但是如果成功确实是很棒的事情。）确保在合适的地方发布公告。有些地方适宜那些能够提供报酬的人，有些地方只适宜那些寻求合作美工的人。你需要在公告中罗列所有你希望美工做的事情。不要在公告中进行假设。以下事项是你应当在公告中提及的内容：

（1）美工需要为你做哪些内容（游戏邦注：比如12个或者更多的背景，每个背景由2-5个图片组成，每张图片为1024×1024等）。他们需要绘制哪种样式的内容？图片的风格是什么？图片的质量要求是什么？尽你所能将所有内容数量化，包括像素、每秒帧数和顶点等。

（2）你希望他们能够完成多少工作？工作需要在多长时间内完成？

（3）你会向美工支付多少报酬？如何计算报酬？

（4）就美工的工作经验而言，他们是否已经到达能够被你雇佣的程度，抑或需要进行试用？

（5）他们会拥有多大程度的自由创作？你会给他们的美术创作设立多少的限制和要求。

（6）每个艺术资产将有多少个修订版？（游戏邦注：不可使用“许多”之类的模糊字眼。）这对你和美工而言都非常重要。只要修订次数有一定上限，许多美工都会愿意接受较为低廉的报酬。这也会迫使你在预定或修改美术资产之前进行深思熟虑，也会最小化双方所浪费的工作和精力。许多专业的美工都会希望有此类的修订上限次数。

（7）版权归何方所有？如果是你的话，那么美工是否能够在将来使用所创作出的美术资产？

（8）你对他们还会哪些其他的期望？他们是否应该在一天之内回复你的邮件？他们是否应当像你那样对游戏充满激情？他们是否应当提供简历或者具有一定的职业经验？他们的工作起始是现有的概念艺术、你的概念艺术还是只是口头上的描述？（游戏邦注：这些问题没有标准的答案。你需要根据自身和游戏的情况做出决定。）

在这个阶段中，你或许你碰到的问题是，你不知道应该给美工支付多少报酬。就我个人而言，刚开始我也不确定。如果是这样的话，你可以在公告中使用如下言语：“我不确定需要为这项工作支付多少报酬。请告知我需要多少劳务费。”即便你知道需要支付多少，我推荐你也在公告中使用这种方法。你或许可以找到那些愿意索取比预期较低的报酬的优秀美工。或者你可能会发现需要支付更多报酬来换取所需的美术质量，这样你就需要重新进行预算。

另一个问题是，你应当按小时、资产数还是整体来支付报酬？就个人而言，我不喜欢根据小时数来向自由美工支付报酬，因为我根本不知道他们的效率。根据资产来支付报酬容易且方便，可以采用这种做法。如果你知道自己需要的美术数量，你自己在这方面有一定经验而且与你合作的是职业美工，那么你可以考虑整体付款方法。

但是这又产生了一个问题，你应当何时支付报酬呢？预先支付、美术完成之后还是期间的某个阶段？我不推荐预先支付，即便报酬是按资产数目来计算的，因为这样美工很容易便会卷款逃走。出于同样的原因，我也不推荐在全部艺术工作完成之后支付报酬，因为这也很容易让某些人利用美工却不付款。我喜欢的是折中的方式，但是这只是我的个人偏好而已，即在草稿完成之后支付半数报酬，然后在艺术资产完成之后支付全部报酬。如果采用这种方式，你具有一定的优势，但这种优势并不大。如果与你合作的是职业美工，那么我会将优势权交给他们，即预先支付半数报酬，然后在美术工作全部完成之后支付剩余报酬。一旦你与某位美工合作数月之后，双方都可能在报酬问题上更加游刃有余，这样你就不必根据提交的每个资产来支付报酬，可以选择每周为完成的所有资产支付报酬等方式。但是，如果这样做让事情变得复杂，那么就变回原本的付款方式，这些你应当在合同中写明。

一旦你发布公告并接触都某些美工之后，你就可以进入下个阶段了。

阶段3：挑选美工

我希望你能够收到许多美工对公告做出的回应。如果没有的话，考虑如下原因：

1、是否没有为所需的工作提供合适的报酬？如果你收到的都是来自业余美工的回应的话，这可能是一大原因。

2、可能有些人觉得你的要求太多。

3、可能只有少数人能够完成你所需的工作。有可能你所需的美术风格较为特殊，或者所发布公告的论坛上的美工数量过少。

如果你希望收到更多回复的话，就改正上述问题，然后再次发布公告，抑或在新的论坛或者网站上，然后看看情况是否有所改变。

现在你获得了许多人的回复，那么要如何挑选出最佳的美工呢？

1、首先，看看他们的作品集。作品集可以反映出他们能够完成你需要他们完成的工作，至少能够展示出他们是否有完成工作的能力。如果你在看过他们的作品后发现他们并非你所需要的美工，明确告诉他们即可，让他们知道为何不能与他们合作的原因。这种礼貌会让他们朝正确的方向成长，如果他们确实想要做你所提供的工作的话。

2、你可以看看他们的简历和之前的工作经验，我个人认为不必对此过于苛刻。如果他们能够完成我所需的美工的话，就足够供我使用了。

3、如果你还没有设定报酬的话，看看他们要求得到多少报酬。你会帮助你了解需要为所提供的美术工作付出多少成本。你应当知道，价格之间可能会有很大的差异，因为这同美工的个人经验、地点和对项目的兴趣程度有关。

4、回复邮件，询问你想问的所有问题。如果没有任何问题的话，只需要询问他们是否认真阅读了你所发布的公告并且理解了其中所有的内容。他们是否有什么问题？你会惊讶于不回复这封信件的人数比例（游戏邦注：逾40%的人不再回复）。这种方法可以帮助你不要将时间浪费在那些并非真正对项目感兴趣，或者愿意在你的项目中投入精力的人身上。

5、就寻找合适的美工而言，我相信“命中注定”这种说法。如果你的美术风格尤为独特的话，这显得格外重要。你想要寻找的是能够助你一臂之力的美工，找到合适的人选那刻的感觉就如同坠入爱河一般。

以下做法可能会让某些人感到紧张，但却是非常重要的：你可以让每个美工为你设计一个样本。即便你不能为这个样本支付报酬，你仍然可以提出这个需求。许多美工愿意这么做，但是美术社群中也有人认为这种要求不当。就个人而言，如果你所提供的合同报酬较为优厚（游戏邦注：超过5000美元），那么你可以要求美工提供免费的样本，就像公司雇佣个人时需要进行测试一般。以下是对这整个过程的指导意见：

1、你能够负担得起为每个设计样本的美工支付报酬的费用？如果可以的话，那么就这么做，你会得到更好的美工，因为他们一开始就会觉得你很专业。

2、如果无法支付这笔费用的话，那么就让美工免费提供样本。理想情况下，你需要在公告中提及这个需求，以免让他们感到意外。将他们的零报酬工作最小化，将任务分解成多个步骤。

3、将描述和概念艺术发送给他们。这应该是最为复杂和艰难的步骤。这个步骤也会检验出那些优秀的美工。但是，所发送的概念艺术应当符合你的游戏需求。

4、让美工根据所提供的描述和概念艺术绘制草图。草图中应当包含足够的有趣细节信息，这样你才可以从中看出他们的想法。

5、一旦你获得草图之后，如果你觉得质量不要，请礼貌地拒绝他们并告知其中的缘由（游戏邦注：第三种为范例支付报酬的方法就是在此刻支付报酬，不过只向那些足够好的草图的绘制者支付）。如果认为草图足够好的话，那么让他们在某些部分涂上颜色，呈现完工之后的模样。我的做法是，只画上数个矩形，让他们在其中涂上颜色。他们应当以完成后的作品模样为标准来给画作涂上颜色。

6、如果最终结果足够好，那么就可以将这个美工视为候选人。应当预先让他们知道，通过测试并不意味着已经被雇佣。你让人需要从所有的候选人中挑出最佳人选。我认为在此期间你必定会找到那个正适宜你的想法的美工。

7、这个过程让优秀的美工可以展现他们的才华和兴趣。通常情况下，他们的作品会超出你的预期。这个过程还让你有机会看看美工的交流风格，他们对你所要完成的游戏的理解以及他们对建议和批评的反应等。

当你找到某个你认为可以合作的美工后，你就可以进入下个阶段。

阶段4：合同

现在，你可以向那个美工发出正式的邀请。邀请中应当包含一份合同。不是因为要给合作制定符合法律的条款，许多美工可能与你并不在同一个国家，合同的作用在于让双方明白各自的界线和期望。美工可以就合同中的所有条款进行提问，确保他们同意所有条款。

以下是你应当在合同中包含的内容：

1、所有在原先的论坛公告或消息中包含的内容。

2、明确的时间安排。至少要提到每周希望收到的作品数量。

3、当单方想要修改合同时，如何处理这种情况？

4、当单方想要解除合作关系时，如何处理？（游戏邦注：需要考虑到你自己生活中在此期间可能发生的事情，比如那些导致你无法在进行游戏开发的事情。）

5、考虑其他各种情况。如果美术资产的修改次数超过最大次数怎么办？如果美术的质量开始下滑怎么办？如果美工未按照时间安排及时交付作品怎么办？如果你想要他们做的工作变多或者变少怎么办？或者工作有所更改怎么办？

6、在何种情况下，单方可以终止合同？

确保美工阅读并理解这些合同。如果他们同意，你可以进入下个阶段。

阶段5：与美工的合作

现在你已经准备好开始进行美术工作。如果你找到了优秀的美工，这个阶段进行的非常顺畅。你向他们发送需求，他们给你提供草稿，然后不断重复。需要记住如下事情：

1、每个美术资产的剩余修改次数。

2、编写文件，追踪需要制成的资产、正在进行的资产、已经完成的资产和已经完成且部分或者全部支付报酬的资产。

3、当美工将初稿发送给你时，马上将其应用到游戏中。不要单独审视作品。将作品运用到游戏中可以呈现出需要改动的东西。我曾经犯过此类错误，在某个背景完成之后，我意识到范围完全发生错误。许多诸如此类的错误需要花费大量的成本方能改正。如果发生了这类错误，那就是你的问题，而不是美工。

4、当你查验某个资产是否适当时，确保检查你提供的所有规格和说明。你或许不记得所有的要求，可以查看你编写的邮件。确保所有的评论和改正都被恰当执行。确保所有的资产都能够恰当运用于游戏中。

5、尽量早地在游戏设计阶段时就考虑美术因素。理想情况下，你会拥有个双方共享的文件存储处。最基本的情况是，计算将新美术资产运用于真正游戏中的所有步骤，然后看看你能否简化这个过程。比如，我不得不为想要添加到项目中的所有质感而手动改变Unity3D中的Texture Importer设置。这需要耗费大量的时间，所以我找到了可以自动执行这项工作的脚本，将其修改成能够满足我的需求，这样就节省了工作时间。

6、查看预算，确保项目有序进展。我每月都会查看自己的预算，确保不会花费额外的资金。

保持同美工之间的交流。如果有事情发生错误，应当用于承认并将其修正。尽量将所浪费的精力最小化。一旦所有的艺术资产完成，你便可以进入下个阶段。

阶段6：结束

合同已经完成，但这并不意味着合作关系就此结束。如果他们感兴趣的话，时刻告诉美工（游戏邦注：以及开发团队的其他成员）游戏的进展情况。保持同他们的联系。或许你未来还需要他们的帮助，或者他们可能将来会帮助你找到所需的美工。

你可以选择发邮件告知他们事态的进展情况，包括你做对和做错的事情，他们做对和做错的事情或者你希望能够有所不同的事情。应当诚实地阐述这些内容，但是要有礼貌。我认为每个人都希望能够获得优良的反馈。这会使得优秀的美工不断成长，变得更加优秀。当然，鼓励他们向你发送同样的反馈信件。你也同样无法将事情做得尽善尽美。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

A guide for an indie developer for how to find, hire, and work with a freelance artist

Alexei Andreev

For nine months I’ve been laboring on an adventure game called “Girl with a Heart of”. This child of mine is almost ready to see the world. It has been an interesting journey into becoming a fully-fledged indie game developer. I’ve paid for the game out of my own pocket, although I have started a Kickstarter campaign to help me pay the PR cost and other release-related expenses. I’ve designed the game completely on my own, did all the programming, and wrote all the dialog. I’ve hired artists, dialog editors, a musician, and several other people. I’ve managed the whole team and made the game happen, and it feels pretty awesome.

But you are here to learn something, so I’ll share with you what I learned from this game when it comes to finding, hiring, and working with freelance artists.

Stage 1: Pre-art

This is the beginning stage when you make and use your own programmer art and placeholders. The goal is to create a fun gameplay experience. Once you have good gameplay (or earlier if your gameplay is going to be driven by art), and you are ready for art, there are several things to think about:

What type of art do you want? Realistic, semi-realistic, anime, 8-bit, highly stylized, some kind of mix? If you are not sure, then head over to any website where artists show off their work and look until you find something you like.

Decide if you want to have any concept art. If you can afford it, it will be worth it. You can do general concept art: to establish the overall feeling for the game (the atmosphere), or more specific concept art: characters, places, events, etc… I did not do concept art for my game, but that meant that I had to find artists who could do a good job of designing the places and characters.

Think about your budget. How much can you spend on art? How will it be divided between different art asset types? You might not have a good answer for this yet, especially if you don’t know how much artists normally charge for the kind of work you want them to do. That’s fine, you can figure it out later. Understanding your budget will help you with picking the right artists, and force you to cut down on content, which is almost always a good thing.

Decide where you’ll get your inspiration from. I ended up writing dialog to fit the portraits that were drawn for the characters. I couldn’t help but do that once I saw the characters’ actual faces. This is not a bad thing, but if you have a very good idea of what a character is supposed to be, then make sure the art will conform to that, rather than you conforming to the art.

Prepare to spend some time finding the right artist. Depending on your needs this can take anywhere from two weeks to two months. Be ready, and make sure you have something to do during that time.

Once you thought about all these issues and have clear answers, you can move on to the next stage.

Stage 2: Making a post

Once you know what kind of style you want; once you have bookmarked a lot of images that have that style; and, once you know what art assets you’ll want made, then you are ready to hire an artist.

Find a website where you can find the kind of artists you are looking for. I needed a 2D background artist, and a character artist and animator. DeviantArt is probably the best place for that.

Go to the website and make a post. (You can also contact some of the artists directly, especially if they have exactly the kind of art style/experience you want. They’ll often be unavailable, but if this works, it could be really good.) Make sure to post it in the right place. Some are for people who are offering payment, and others are for people who are just looking for a collaborator. In your post, outline everything you want the artist to do. Don’t assume things. Here are some things in particular that you should mention:

What will the artist be doing for you? (Example: 12 or more backgrounds, each consisting of 2-5 images, each image is 1024×1024.) What kind of content will they draw? What style? What quality? Quantify everything you can: pixels, frames per second, vertices/polygons, etc…

How much work will you expect them to do? When is the due date; when does all the art have to be done?

How much will you pay the artist? How will the payment work? (More on this later.)

Will the artist’s portfolio be enough for you to hire them, or will they have to try out? (More on this later.)

How much freedom in creativity will they have? How many constraints will you put on the art they create?

How many revisions will each art asset have? (“Several” is not a good answer.) This is an important point, both for you and the artist. Many artists will accept a lower payment per asset as long as there is a cap on the number of revisions they have to do. This will also force you to think about the asset before you order/change it, and will minimize the amount of wasted work for both parties. Many professional artists will expect some kind of cap.

Who will have the copyright? If you, then can the artist use the art in their portfolio?

What other expectations will you have from them? Should they be able to answer your email within a day? Should they be as excited about your game as you are? Should they have a resume or professional experience? Will they be working from existing concept art, your concept art, or just verbal descriptions? (By the way, there are no right answers here. It’s something you have to decide based on yourself and your game. Just be upfront about it.)

One issue you might have in this step, is that you have no idea how much you should pay an artist. I certainly didn’t when I started looking. In this case, you can just say so in the post, “I am not sure what a good payment for this work is. Let me know what you expect to be paid for this.” I would recommend doing this even if you do know. You might find good artists that are willing to work for less than you predicted. Or you might find that to get the kind of quality you want, you have to pay more than you expected, in which case you’ll have to re-budget.

Another issue is: should you pay an artist per hour, per asset, or as a lump payment? Personally, I feel very nervous paying a freelancer by the hour, because I don’t know how efficient they are. Paying by an asset is very easy and convenient, and I see no reason not to do that. If you know exactly how much art you need, and you have experience, and you are working with a professional artist, then you can consider a lump payment.

Yet another issue is: when should you pay them? Upfront, after they finish, or somewhere in the middle? I reject the idea of paying upfront, even if the payment is per asset, because it’s too easy for the artist to take the money and leave, though I doubt that would happen if they got through your selection process (see below). For that same reason, I reject the idea of payment after they finish, because then its to easy for people to take advantage of artists by taking their work and not paying for it. There are many middle ways that I like, but this is the one I used: paying half after the sketch (or first draft) is done, and then paying the rest after the completion of the art asset. In this case you have the advantage, but it’s not huge. If you are working with a professional artist, then I would give them the advantage, and pay half of the payment upfront, and half after the art is completed. Once you’ve been working with an artist for several months, both of you will probably become more relaxed when it comes to the payment, so you won’t have to pay for each asset separately, and can instead pay for all assets done this week or something similar. However, if things become messy, just revert to your normal payment, which you would have specified in the contract (see below).

Once you made a post or two, sent several messages, and in general reached out to the artists, you can move on to the next stage.

Stage 3: Selecting an artist

I hope you’ve received many replies. If you haven’t, think:

Are you not offering enough payment for this job? This is probably true if you got a lot of replies from amateur artists.

Perhaps some expectations you’ve listed are too demanding.

It’s possible there are only a few people who can do what you want. Either the art style is too specific, or – if, let’s say, you are looking for an animator – there aren’t a lot of animators looking at the forums where you posted.

So, if you want more replies, fix these issues, make another post, perhaps in a different forum/website, and see what happens.

Now that you do have a lot of replies, how do you pick the best artist?

First, look at their portfolio. It should either demonstrate that they can do the kind of art you want them to do, or, at least, show that they are capable enough to do it. If after looking at their art, you don’t feel like they make a good candidate, simply tell them “no, thank you”, and let them know why you rejected them. This is a small courtesy that will allow them to grow in the right direction, if they want to do the kind of work you are offering.

You can look at their resume and/or previous experience if they have it, though, I personally didn’t care one bit. If they can do the kind of art I want, then they are good enough for me.

If you haven’t set the price, look at how much they are asking. This will help you get a good perspective on what’s normal for the kind of work you are offering. Realize that the variance in price can be pretty high, since its based on many factors: artist’s experience, location, and interest in the project.

Email them back with any questions you have. If you have none, just ask them if they’ve read your post carefully and understand all of it. Do they have any questions? You’ll be surprised how many people (>40%) will never get back to you on this. This is an easy way to not waste your time on people who are not really interested or can’t commit to your project.

I believe in “the one” feeling when it comes to finding the right artist. This is especially important if your art is specific or unique. You want to find an artist who make you go, “Wow, that’s what I was looking for and more!” It’s like falling in love.
This is a point of tension for some people, but it’s important: You can ask each artist to create a sample for you. Even if you can’t pay for it, you can still ask. Lots of artist will do it, but many in the art community frown upon this as free labor. Personally, I feel that if you are offering a sizable contract (>$5k), then you are entitled to a free sample, just like companies who hire individuals are entitled to give you a test. Here is the guideline to the whole process:

Can you afford to ask each artist to create a sample and pay them for it? If yes, then do it: you’ll get much better artists applying, since they can see you are being very professional upfront.

If no, then ask them to do it for free. (There is a third middle option, see below.) Ideally, you’ve mentioned this in your post. Don’t present this as a surprise. To minimize the amount of free work they’ll have to do, split the task into several steps for them.

Send them the description/concept art to do. This should be the most complicated/difficult one. One that will let the good artists shine through. However, it should also by typical for your game. (Don’t ask an artist to draw a town, if most images they’ll actually draw are of a cave.)

Ask the artist to draw a sketch based on the given description/concept art. It should include enough interesting detail so you can see what they have in mind. (A cube as a substitute for a house won’t do.)

Once you have the sketch, if it’s not good enough, politely reject them (and tell them why). (The third method of paying for samples is to pay them right here, but only if the sketch is good enough.) If it’s good, ask them to paint some (or if you are paying them for the sample, then all) parts of the picture to show you what it will look like when it done. What I did is just draw several rectangles for them to paint inside. They should paint it as it would look in the final revision.

If the final result is good enough, then this artist becomes a candidate. Make sure to let them know ahead of time, that just because they make it through the test, doesn’t mean they are automatically hired. You’ll still have to pick the best out of all the candidates you have. I think you’ll often find that there is that one artist that just sends shivers down your spine when you see how perfectly they’ve implemented your vision.

This whole process gives a chance for good artists to show that they are talented, dedicated, and interested. Often, they’ll go above and beyond what you’ve expected. This process also gives you a chance to look at the artist’s communication style, their understanding of what you are trying to accomplish, their reaction to suggestions and criticism, etc…

When you found an artist that you feel is a very good match for the job, you can move on to the next stage.

Stage 4: Contract

Now you will send the official invitation to the artist. This should involve a contract. Not because it has any legal binding force in this case – especially since many artists are not even located in your country – but because this will let both parties set their respective boundaries and expectations. The artist gets a chance to review everything they are signing up for, to make sure they agree to all of it.

Here are the points you should definitely address in your contract:

Pretty much everything you’ve included in your original forum post (or message).

A clear schedule. At the very least mention how many assets per week you expect to receive.

How will you handle a scenario where one party wants to make a change to the contract?

How will you handle a scenario where one party wants to quit? (Realize that something might come up in your own life, where you no longer want to work on your game.)

Consider other scenarios. What happens if you want to go over the maximum number of revisions for an art asset? What happens if the art quality starts to decline? What happens if the artist is lagging behind schedule? What happens if you want to them to do more/less work? Different work?

Under what conditions can a party terminate the contract?

Make sure the artist reads and understands the contract. When they agree, you can move on to the next stage.

Stage 5: Working with the artist

Now you are ready to start churning out the art. If you found a good artist, this is pretty straight forward. You send them the requirements, they give you a sketch (the first draft), and then you iterate on it. Things to keep in mind:

Number of revisions left for each art asset.

Have a document to keep track of assets that need to be done, assets that are being worked on (I count an asset as being worked on as soon as I tell the artist I need it), assets that are done, and assets that are done and partially/fully paid for.

When an artist sends you the first draft, plug it into your game immediately. Don’t look at it on its own. This will might reveal many things that need to be corrected, that you would have otherwise missed. (I’ve made the mistake of not doing this, and then once one of the backgrounds was done, I’ve realized it was completely not to scale.) Mistakes like this can be very costly to fix. If a mistake does occur, it’s your fault, and not the artist’s.

When checking if an art asset is right, make sure to look over all the specifications you gave. You might not even remember all of them, so go check that email you wrote. Make sure all your comments/corrections have been implemented. Make sure the asset fits into the game well.

Have the easiest possible pipeline from the artist to the game. Ideally, you have a repository that everyone uses. Basically, count all the steps you have to take to see a new art asset in the actual game, and see if you can simplify this process. (For example, I had to manually change the Texture Importer settings in Unity3D for every single texture I wanted to add to the project. This quickly became a very huge time sink, so I found a script that does this automatically, modified it to my liking, and saved myself hours of work.)

Check your budget to make sure you are still on track. I’ve been checking my budget each month (and more frequently in the beginning) to make sure I am not going to spend more than I have.

Keep the communication going strong. If anything is wrong, acknowledge it and fix it. Minimize wasted effort. Once all the art assets are finished, you can move on to the next stage.

Stage 6: The end

The contract has been fulfilled, but it doesn’t mean that the relationship has to be over. Keep the artist (and the rest of the development team) informed about the game, if they are interested. And either way, keep in touch. You never know if you might work with them again, or they might help you find another artist for your next project.

This one is optional: send them an email of things that went well, and things that didn’t. Things that you did right/wrong, and things that they did right/wrong, or things that you just wish were different. Be honest, but polite. I think everyone appreciates a good feedback, even if they might not like it. This will allow good artists to develop and become better. And, of course, encourage them to send a similar feedback letter to you. It’s not like you did everything perfect either.

I hope this helps you in your future indie career. Leave a comment below to share your experience with hiring freelance artists, working as a freelance artist, link other similar posts, or pose a question. I want to hear from you! (Source: Gamasutra)